> > Yeah, what's with that HAIRLESS thing?
>
> It's from body-building competitions. They always shaved to show off
> their definition. When definition became mainstreamed -- when Arnold and
> Sly hit the bigtime -- so did shaving.
but the arnold acquired his taste for bodybuilding in venice beach, which was pretty queer at the time. part of that aes- thetic stems from ye olde charles atlas-type beach beefcake, which (clever theoretical hijinks aside), was pretty solidly hetero--but not all of it, not by a long shot. i'm not sure i believe this functionalist *origin* for shaving; the func- tion, sure, but not the origin.
cheers, t